Road to Sao Paulo
by Logan Jindrak X
Summary: Blu has moved on to Rio de Janeiro and now lives the perfect life with his new mate. However, When things go fine, life always throws trouble at you so that you don't get too comfortable. So, when Blu's friend gets taken away, it's up to him to go to her rescue. Rated T for mild language, humor, and violence.
1. Peaceful life in the jungle

**The Road to Sao Paulo**

The sun slowly rose over the horizon to bring light upon the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro and the rainforest located right next to it. The sound of a bird whistling resonated through the wild world which slowly came to life. Feathered creatures came out of their nests and started singing the song of their joy.

_All the birds of a feather_  
_Do what they love most of all_  
_We are the best at rhythm and laughter_  
_That's why we love carnival_

Birds of all sizes and colors danced in the air with each other in a wonderful choreography. Scarlet macaws formed circles in midair before dispatching and flying all around.

_All so free we can sing to_  
_Sun and beaches, they call_  
_Dance to the music, passion and love_  
_Show us the best you can do_

Toucans danced in lines over branches and smaller birds shook flowers on trees to make their petals fall down below. Kids came out of their nests to join their parents and friends in the fun.

_Everyone here is on fire_  
_Get up and join in the fun_  
_Dance with a stranger, romance and danger_  
_Magic could happen for real in Rio_

More toucans swung on vines close to their fellow avians, whom danced in couples to express their love.

_All by itself (itself), you can't see it coming_  
_You can't find it anywhere else_  
_It's real in Rio, know something else (something else)_  
_You can feel it happen, you can feel it all by yourself_

As the song ended and all the birds cheered, a certain couple of birds started waking up inside their own nest. A couple of spix macaws - the last of their species.

The male has dark blue feathers with black talons and beak. White facial expressions decorated his hazel brown eyes. This macaw's name is Tyler "Blu" Gunderson - or just Blu, the final male spix macaw on Earth. Born in Rio, he grew up in Moose Lake, Minnesota, USA with his human companion, whom he sees as a mother, Linda Gunderson. During his fifteen years with her, Blu spent most of his life in the comfort of a human home where he could read books and do stuff that normally interested only humans. As such, he never learned how to fly which made him the mockery of all birds in Moose Lake. Because of this, Blu became isolated from the outside world. But it never bothered him. However, things changed in recent times when a doctor from Rio convinced him and Linda to travel to Brazil and save his species. This little travel transformed into an unexpected journey that changed Blu forever... and for the best.

The female has light blue feathers, and black talons and beak, just like Blu, and a pair of wonderful turquoise eyes. This bird's name is Jewel and her presence radiates nothing less than beauty and independence. Raised in the rainforest, she loves nothing more than the wild and freedom, and hates nothing less than humans and the chaos they brought upon her world. Being the last female of her kind, she hated the idea of mating with Blu since he got raised by a human and was just a nerd in general. However, after a journey during which they got captured by smugglers and chained to each other, Jewel started seeing Blu under a new light which led to her kissing him after he willingly gave up his life to save her, learning how to fly in the process. After this, Jewel found herself waiting for two weeks at Dr. Tulio's aviary which wasn't easy, but with Blu at her side, she made it through. The two now lived together in the rainforest and Jewel would not trade her mate for anything else in the world.

Jewel yawned and stretched her body as she woke up first. She then looked down at her mate who still slept in their nest, snoring a bit, and she giggled. Blu still wasn't used to Brazil's day and night hours, meaning he slept longer than the other birds in the jungle. Jewel did not mind though; it allowed her to see his cute sleeping form every morning upon waking up. But she still decided to wake him up because she did not want to spend the day alone.

"Wake up, sleepy bird," Jewel softly said as she nudged at her mate with her wing.

"Just five more minutes, Linda," Blu groaned and turned to the side to avoid Jewel.

"Oh, you wanna play like that? Very well." Jewel smirked and then gave a good peck into Blu's side, causing him to jump and hold his side in pain.

"Ouch! Hey! What was that for?"

"To get your feathered butt out of the nest," Jewel replied, smiling in amusement and placing a wing on her hip. "It's morning, city bird."

Blu looked out of his nest to see that the sun indeed stood in the blue sky. He let out a loud yawn and turned back toward his mate. "Sorry, Jewel. I think I still need some time to get used to your day and night time."

"It's okay, city bird, I forgive you." Jewel then took his wing and dragged him out of the nest. "Come on, let's get something to eat, I'm hungry."

Jewel opened her wings and gracefully took off into the rainforest's air. Blu did the same - though with less grace since flying was still new to him - and followed her. She led them to a mango tree where they picked one fruit each and started munching. Jewel ate with joy since mangoes were her favorite fruits in the world. It was different for Blu because the former companion was used to eat cereals and toasts for breakfast every morning. However, he did not complain because these mangoes were very sweet and juicy. And besides, if they made Jewel happy, then he would be happy too.

"Aww, so tasty," Jewel sighed as she finished eating her mango.

"I agree; they are delicious," Blu said before taking the final bite of his own fruit. "So, what do you wanna do today, Jewel?"

The female spix macaw rubbed her chin for a moment before smiling as an idea came to her mind. "I know. How about we go pay a little visit to Rafael and Eva?"

At this suggestion, Blu's eyes widened in terror. "What?! Are you serious?!"

"What's wrong, Blu?"

"Have you forgotten what happened, the last time we went there? Their chicks jumped on us and we went through possibly the worst time of our lives! It took a full week before my feathers grew back to normal!"

Jewel giggled at her mate's insecurity. "Come on, Blu. It's in the past; I'm sure they must have changed since then."

"You know it was only two weeks ago, right?"

"Come on, Blu. Don't you want to see Rafael and Eva again?"

Blu sighed, knowing Jewel would not change her mind, regardless of how hard he tried to convince her. "Very well. Let's go."

The two macaws flew away from the mango tree and all the way to their family friends' tree. Upon landing, they looked around for any sight of them. "Rafael? Eva? Are you here?" Jewel called in the direction of the tree, but received no response from her toucan friends.

"There don't seem to be anyone around here, Jewel," Blu said. "Let's go; we'll come later to see-WHAT THE CHEESE AND SPRINKLES?!" the macaw exclaimed as he felt something wrap itself around his body, pinning his wings against his sides, around his ankles, and found himself falling face-first on the ground. Jewel suffered the same fate as she fell beside him, struggling against her bonds. Looking down, Blu saw that vines were binding them.

"This means...?!" Blu mumbled.

"Oh no," Jewel groaned.

"ATTACK!"

The two helpless birds found themselves under attack from a fleet of baby toucans who punches, kicked, and pecked their bodies along with ripping their feathers off. Try as they might, they could not break the vines holding them down and standing up with so many little devils on top of them was impossible. They were at the little kids' mercy.

"What's going on down here?!" a loud, firm voice called.

"It's mom! Let's get out of here!" one of the baby toucans exclaimed and flew away with his siblings.

Rising their heads, Blu and Jewel saw Rafael and Eva landing down with looks of concern on their faces. The two toucans quickly used their beaks to snap the vines from their macaw friends and help them stand up.

"Are you guys okay?" Rafael asked.

"A bit shaken up, but alive," Blu replied with dusting his blue feathers off.

"Sorry for that; we take our eyes off them for one second, and they wreak havoc," Eva said in an annoyed tone.

"I don't know how they managed to jump on us before we could notice them," Jewel said. "And I learned how to sense predators coming before."

The two toucans chuckled a bit before Rafael changed the subject. "So, how you lovebirds been doing?"

"Great. My wing has fully recovered which means I can now fly everywhere with my little city bird," Jewel said with giving a kiss to her mate.

"Aww, that's so romantic," Rafael said with a charmed smile. He then wrapped a wing around Blu's shoulder. "I'm really glad you finally found the courage in your heart to fly, my boy."

"But you're fifteen years late," Eva deadpanned.

"Eva! Don't ruin his moment!" Jewel said in a scolding tone.

"I'm just kidding, Jewel," the female toucan chuckled and nudged her spix macaw friend.

"Well, Jewel and I will be going now. We just came to see how you were doing," Blu said.

"Alright, have a nice day, lovebirds," Rafael said.

"Thanks. Bye," Jewel said and took off alongside her mate. "So, what do you want to do now?" she asked while flying.

"I'd like to go pay a visit to Linda and Tulio. If you don't mind, of course."

Jewel giggled. "Blu, you know that I'm no longer afraid around them. Of course we can go see them."

Blu smiled at this. "Thanks, Jewel. Let's go!"

**Author's note: I watched Rio for the first time in 2011 when it came out in theaters. It became my second most favorite animated movie of the year just after Kung Fu Panda 2. But even then, I did not expect it to be better than Pixar's movie of that year, Cars 2. And today, almost 9 years later, Rio is currently my fourth most favorite animated movie, after Kung Fu Panda, The Lion King, and Zootopia. But I always had ideas for a fanfiction on it. I hope you will like this story and may the gods watch over you all.**


	2. Visiting Linda

After around half an hour of flying, Blu and Jewel finally made it to Linda and Tulio's new book store in Rio. They called it the "Blue Feather" in honor of the last spix macaws on Earth. After Blu told her that he wanted to stay in Rio to be with Jewel, Linda made the hard decision to move her book store out of Minnesota and into Rio. Saying goodbye to her hometown wasn't easy, but Linda wanted to stay close to her best feathered friend. And besides... she and Tulio started dating after the whole thing with the smugglers and she didn't want their relationship to end like this. So, after a full week of work and planification, she finally settled into her new home in Rio. Of course, things did not become simple because she still needed to learn Portuguese if she wanted to talk with the city's people. Luckily, Tulio was there to help her.

The two macaws landed outside the book store's window and Blu knocked on it a few times with his foot. After a moment, footsteps were heard and the window opened to reveal Blu's faithful human companion. Her green eyes widened behind her glasses upon seeing her best friend outside her window. "Hello, Blu," she said with a smile and exchanged her friendly handshake with him. She then looked at Jewel. "And hello, Jewel."

The human reached her hand to pet the female avian's head feathers. Normally, she would have bit her fingers off, but Blu helped her understand that not every human is evil. And besides, Linda did help in taking care of her during her time in the aviary when her wing was broken. If that wasn't enough to win her trust, she didn't know what could.

"So, what brings you here, guys?" Linda asked.

Blu flew inside the house and to a pencil with a notebook on a desk. Since he could not speak like a human, he always wrote on papers to communicate with Linda. After finishing writing on a page, Blu tore it off and gave it to Linda so that she could read.

_Hello, Linda. Jewel and I just decided to come here and see how you were doing. I also wanted to show your new home to Jewel and what I used to do back in Minnesota._

After she finished reading the note, Linda smiled and patted Blu's head. "I'm really glad you came, Blu. You can make Jewel visit the place; I'll go in the kitchen to make you some hot chocolate. Tulio and Fernando left to the market a few hours ago; they should be back soon." After saying this, Linda walked off to the kitchen.

After the events with the smugglers were done and Linda decided to stay in Rio, she and Tulio welcomed the young orphan into their home. At first, Blu and Jewel were skeptical about this idea because it was the boy who captured them for the smugglers in the first place. However, Linda explained them that he did it because he had no home and needed money to live in the streets. Apparently, he felt guilty for what he had done and decided to help Linda and Tulio in finding the two macaws which is why they were present at the carnival. This convinced Blu and Jewel to forgive the boy and give him a second chance.

"So, what do you usually do around here, Blu?" Jewel asked as she flew next to her mate on the desk.

Blu rubbed his chin and thought about it. Jewel never experienced human things (well, the positive ones) and grew up in the wild. What could Blu possibly do to entertain her? His first thought was to make her read a book, but he then remembered that she didn't know how to read. After a few seconds, he got an idea; he would show her his and Linda's photo album so that she could see all the good times they have spent together throughout the years.

"Wait a sec," Blu said and flew away to go get the photo album from Linda's bedroom. He then carried it back to the desk where he left his mate.

"What's this?" Jewel asked with eyeing the strange object.

"It's a photo album. Linda and I stock all these things we call 'pictures' into it." The raised eyebrow Jewel gave him made Blu understand she didn't know what a picture is. "A picture is some sort of image we take with a human tool that allows us to freeze something on it so that we can keep it as a memory. Here, look." He opened the album and Jewel started understanding what pictures were.

The two macaws rolled through the album with Blu explaining his mate the story behind every picture, his favorite one being the picture of him and Linda dressed as pirates for Halloween. Of course, Blu needed to explain Jewel what pirates are and it took quite a moment. After this, he flipped the page and... they arrived in the section filled with pictures of Blu as a chick. Oh no!

"Is that... you?" Jewel asked as she stared at a picture of baby Blu getting fed by Linda. This made her giggle. "You were so cute!"

"Hey, I'm not cute. Linda always said that I'm a big, brave boy," Blu said with puffing his chest out to look strong. This only made Jewel giggle more.

"Whatever you say, baby boy."

Just then, Linda arrived with two cups of hot chocolate, which she set down on the desk. "There you go, guys. I hope you will like it."

Blu smiled. It has been so long since he last got the chance to drink this sweet nectar. Grabbing his cup in his talons, he took a sip and sighed with joy. Sure, Rio was far from being as cold as Moose Lake, but it was still his favorite drink. After his first sip, he noticed Jewel stared hesitantly at her own cup. "What's wrong, Jewel? You're not thirsty?"

"No. It's just... I never drank anything human-made before."

"Come on; give it a try. I'm sure you're gonna like it."

Jewel didn't like the idea of drinking something made by humans... but Blu gave the effort to adapt to the rainforest and eat anything growing into it just for her. The least she could do was to try food from his own world. Taking the cup with her talons, she brought the beverage to her beak and took a sip.

"So? How do you like it?" Blu asked. Jewel's turquoise eyes widened and she did not respond. "... Jewel?"

The wild bird suddenly grabbed her cup and drank it all in one go. She let out a burp and wiped the little hot chocolate that got on her beak. "This is the most DELICIOUS thing I ever drank!"

Blu chuckled a bit. "Glad to know my mate likes my favorite drink as well." He also drank his cup, finishing it after a few sips. The only thing that could have made it better would have been a few chocolate chip cookies.

"So, what do you want to do now?" Jewel asked.

"Hmm... Oh! I know exactly what we could do!" Blu led Jewel into the living room and started searching through a closet. He soon came out of it with some sort of black metallic box connected to wires and brought it before the television.

"Huh, what's this thing, Blu?" Jewel asked as Blu started connecting the black box's wires to the television.

"It's called a Playstation 2 - or PS2, to make it shorter. We can use it to play these things called video games," Blu explained as he plugged two controllers into the console and walked back to Jewel. "Linda and I used to play with it all the time when we were kids." He handed one of the controllers to his mate.

"Oh, hum... I don't know if I'm comfortable with this," Jewel said with rubbing the back of her head.

"Come on, Jewel; I promise you it's gonna be fun."

"... Okay, guess it's worth giving it a try," Jewel said with taking the controller in her wings.

Blu pulled on a racing game for them and started explaining everything to his mate. Of course, since it was her very first time playing a video game, Blu had to explain her what a video game is, how she is supposed to use the controller, the commands of the game, and what the goal is. It took her a very long time and many tries in training mode, but she eventually got the hand of it. Blu started a competition mode and Jewel was so much into the game that she yelled whenever she fell into a pit or got hit by an obstacle. But except that, the two macaws were having a lot of fun. By the end of the competition, Jewel finished third place!

"Wow! Jewel, I'm impressed. It took me many weeks before getting the hand of this game."

Jewel gave a proud smile. "What can I say. When you grow in the jungle, you learn to adapt to pretty much everything."

"Don't get too cocky; you have a lot to learn before you can beat me at this game," Blu defended himself.

"We'll see about that."

Blu then looked out of the house by the window and noticed it started getting dark outside as the sun settled down and the sky turned auburn in color. "Wow, with all that action, I didn't see time passing by. It's almost night time already. I think we should go back to our nest before it gets too dark."

"Good idea," Jewel said with stretching her wings and body a bit. "This video game was fun, but it drained a lot out of me. We should get going before I get too tired to fly."

Blu used the notebook and pencil to write a goodbye note to Linda which he left on the desk. Tulio and Fernando returned earlier and the two macaws got the chance to say hello to them. However, the humans did not want to disturb their racing game and the meeting was short. After finishing with the note, Blu flew out of the book store with Jewel through the window they entered, making sure to close it behind before taking to the sky.

After another half-hour of flying, the two macaws made it back to their tree hollow. They immediately got ready to sleep with Blu dropping on his back into the nest. Jewel laid next to her mate, resting her head on his fluffy neck, and pressing her stomach against his. Blu gently wrapped his wings around her and they shared a kiss.

"Hey, Jewel."

"Yes, Blu?"

"What do you say we go to Nico and Pedro's samba club, tomorrow? It has been a while since we saw them."

"Sure, that sounds good. I'm sure we'll have a lot of fun." Jewel then yawned and closed her eyes. "Goodnight, Blu."

"Goodnight, Jewel."

* * *

A pickup truck parked itself on the rim of the rainforest and three figures walked out of it. They uncharged their equipment and stared at the wild world ahead of them. "We finally made it after so much time on the road," one of them said.

Another one charged some sort of gun and grinned. "It's time to go macaw hunting..."

**Author's note: I wanna thank Jazzstep and RioloverBardenBellaforlife for their constructive reviews on this story. I didn't expect to do so well on my first story. Not much happened in this chapter. Just like the first one, it was a relaxing one showcasing Blu and Jewel spending time together. However, it seems like things might get spiced up in the next chapter. Constructive review are welcome and may the gods watch over you all.**


	3. Unexpected surprise

**Author's note: Before starting this chapter, I'd like to thank Kraft58 and AquillaPrime who left very constructive reviews on my previous chapters. I can't guarantee this new chapter will fill in all the advice you gave me, but I'm gonna try to do better. Thank you all!**

Jewel woke up earlier than usual that morning, yawning as she got up and stretched her wings. However, she found herself wincing as a jolt of pain rushed through her left wing. It did not completely recover from being crushed by that big box in the plane. Of course, she could still fly with it, as she did in the last few days, but the pain did not completely fade away. She just hoped it wasn't the sign of permanent damage.

The spix macaw took a deep breath of the fresh, tropical air to calm her thoughts and smiled. She then turned her attention toward her mate who turned his head and mumbled things in his sleep about fruits or cheese. This sight made the female avian giggle a bit since she loved this cute sight.

"Get up, Blu," Jewel said with shaking him a bit. "Don't make me give you another peck attack like yesterday."

The male macaw's hazel eyes suddenly shot open and he stood up on his talons in a matter of seconds. "I'm up! I'm up!" he quickly said with his wings raised in defense. "Don't peck me again; that's painful!"

"You see? You can when you want," Jewel giggled and gave her mate a kiss on the cheek.

Blu rolled his eyes, but kissed Jewel's cheek nonetheless. "Why do you have to torment me like this?"

"Because it's funny? Do I need any other reason?" Jewel asked with giving him a wink. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd like to go clean myself in the river before we go see our friends at the samba club." She then gave him a small grin in the corner of her beak. "Unless you want to join me?"

The heat rushed to Blu's face which turned a bright red in a second. Taking a bath with a girl? Sure, he did take baths with Linda back in Minnesota, but she was a human and his companion friend. With Jewel... it was different. He never took a bath with anyone of his species, let alone a girl of his species! "Huh, no thanks. Maybe another time," Blu denied with rubbing the back of his head and looking away.

"Aww, you look like a cherry, so cute!" Jewel mused which caused her mate to blush even more. "Alright then, see ya later." Walking to the entrance of their hollow, she opened her wings and flew away into the forest.

Blu walked over to the entrance and smiled as his mate gracefully flapped her wings and disappeared amongst the forest trees. Sometimes, he found himself having a hard time believing that the gods decided to bless him with such a beautiful creature as his mate. He who grew up as a pet in Minnesota and did nothing but reading books and watching television. He thought a low bird like him did not deserve a wonder like Jewel... and yet, destiny chose otherwise. He would cherish every moment spent with her until the moment of his death.

"We're chained to each other birds..."

* * *

After only a few minutes of flying, Jewel found a river where she could take a good bath. Good thing because she forgot to clean herself the day before. That racing game she played with Blu really got to her. Landing on the forest ground, the spix macaw reached a talon to touch the water and check if it was too cold. Just the right temperature. Good. What? Jewel did not like cold water. Lucky for her, cold rivers were rare in a rainforest like Rio's.

"Just nice, as I like it," the spix macaw mumbled to herself as she stepped in the nice water.

Plunging her wings in the clear liquid, she started rubbing them all over her body. It felt so soothing and removed any trace of dirt from her feathers. "Much better than those I had to take in the aviary," Jewel mumbled to herself as she rubbed her wet wings across her stomach. She also took some water and splashed it across her face. When she opened her turquoise eyes again, she couldn't help but start looking at her surroundings.

There she was. In the wild just like she wanted to for so long. Even after two weeks, it still felt like it was yesterday that these humans captured and locked her away into this aviary. Then, she met Blu and got chained to him. If someone would have told her three weeks ago that her mate would end up being a pet who would change her point of view about humans, she wouldn't have believed it. And yet, it happened.

Blu... this young macaw changed so much in her life. Prior to meeting him, Jewel held nothing but hate for humans. They took everything away from her as a child and she found herself having to survive in the forest on her own. Far away from the Amazon rainforest. Then, she met Blu and... he showed her that not all humans are evil. That some of them like Linda and Tulio are good. She learned to trust humans because of him. If she hadn't, her wing would still be broken right now and she would not be able to fly again. Just this thought was enough to bring pain in her heart. Anyways, Blu was one of a kind and she would not trade him for even the wildest bird in Brazil.

CRACK!

The sound of twigs cracking alerted Jewel, causing her to spin around and search for the source of the noise. Nothing. Curiosity started filling her mind as to what could have possibly caused this noise. "Who's there?" she asked. She secretly prepared herself to take off in case a predator would jump out to get after her.

After a few seconds, no other sound was heard. Jewel sighed in relief. For a second, she thought that her life was in danger. But then, as she took more water in her wings, she heard a quick noise behind her just before feeling something wrapping itself around her wings and body. Similar to the day before, when Rafael and Eva's kids attacker her and Blu, Jewel fell down in the water, though not enough so that her head got underwater. After struggling for a bit, she looked down and saw not vines this time, but ropes forming a web wrapped all over her body, preventing her from moving anything except her toes and tail feathers.

Jewel immediately started pushing her wings against the ropes, but she soon realized that fighting them by force was useless. She lowered her head to grab the closest rope with her beak and attempted to snap it. However, it was made of a solid material and would take her a while before breaking it. Where did this web come from? Who shot it at Jewel?

"We got her! We got her! Bring the cage! Quick!" Lifting her gaze up, Jewel saw a human approaching her.

A man, tall and dark skinned. He has canvassed tan pants and a blue button up shirt on with the sleeves rolled up on his forearms. The shirt is tucked in, but just about every button is undone, exposing his chest to the breeze. He has a leather, wide brim pork hat with some exotic feathers, and many necklaces. His smile is wide, his chin is strong and stubbled, and he has a lean musculature to him. He has silver hair, but he doesn't look a day over thirty.

This man kneeled close to the helpless bird, a sinister grin on his face. "You have no idea how happy I am to see you, _passarinha_. We have been looking for you for a very long time, you know."

Jewel's eyes widened in panic. This couldn't be happening again! Not again! As the mysterious man grabbed the web and dragged her away, Jewel struggled in vain before turning to her last resort: screaming.

"BLU! HEEEEELP!"

* * *

After his mate left the nest to take a bath, Blu flew over to the same mango tree they took their breakfast at the day before. He wanted to get some fruits and bring them back to the nest before Jewel finished cleaning herself. No doubt she would be put in a happy mood by this surprise. Chuckling to himself, the macaw plucked two mangoes from the lush tree, holding them in his talons. Opening his wings, he got ready to take off back to his nest and-

"BLU! HEEEEELP!"

The macaw's whole body froze upon hearing the familiar voice of his mate. His head almost instantly turned the direction her call came from. "Jewel?!" Not taking time to think, he dropped the mangoes and flapped his wings as hard as he could and darted across the forest. If anybody dared hurting his jewel of the forest, he would make them pay!

"HOLD ON, JEWEL! I'M COMING!"

Blu made it to the closest river he could find which was in the direction Jewel's scream came from in a matter of seconds. Normally, it would have taken him a few minutes, but his adrenaline rush boosted his speed to incredible degrees. To his horror, Jewel was nowhere to be seen. This meant that either this wasn't the river she went to bath into or she got captured and taken away. A million thoughts rushed through Blu's mind. He didn't know what course of action to take next!

"LET ME GO! SOMEONE, HELP ME!"

Blu's head immediately turned toward the source of this second scream. "JEWEL!" Flapping his wings again, the spix macaw followed his mate's calls for help. Due to his lack of experience in the flying department, he found himself almost bumping into trees and branches on several occasions. But that did not stop his momentum even for a second. He would make it to Jewel even if he needed to lose feathers or get bruises in the process!

After a brief moment, Blu came out of the rainforest and near the cliffs where he attempted to fly with Jewel for the first time under Rafael's direction only to fail and fall on a paraglider. However, now was no time to remember the old memories. Jewel was in danger and Blu needed to find her before anybody could harm her. "Jewel! Where are you?!" he screamed with looking left and right.

He then noticed something unusual. Near the forest was parked some sort of pickup truck painted in green with some red logo on either side of it. Three humans were present around this vehicle with one of them sitting in the driver's seat, one sitting beside him, and the third one charging some crates into the back of the pickup. Upon giving a closer look, Blu saw that this human was holding some sort of cage with him. A cage containing an avian figure... A blue avian figure...

"Jewel!" Blu screamed in horror. The human carrying her talked to the human on the driver's seat before the truck turned on and started driving away from the forest.

No. Not again.

Not wasting a second, Blu started flying after the pickup truck and the humans who captured his jewel of the forest. He would certainly not allow them to take her away right after they escaped a bunch of smugglers! Not after everything they went through just to be together. Not after risking his life and learning how to fly.

Blu thought he would manage to catch up with the pickup rather quickly, but things were not so easy. The vehicle drove very fast - almost as if the three humans were in a hurry to get away from the forest as fast as possible. Adding to this the fact that they were on a road with little to no obstacles to slow them down and Blu's lack of flying experience as well as the tiredness he felt from flying so hard in the last few minutes. But that did not matter! He would keep flying until Jewel was safe!

But determination alone is not enough. The pickup started pulling more and more distance between itself and Blu as tiredness settled in. Blu's panting became heavier and heavier, sweat forming on his feathers. By the looks of things, he wouldn't catch up with the truck unless they decided to stop. Maybe he would manage to hold on long enough for-

"WATCH OUT!"

Blu looked up to see a blur of black and white before feeling something colliding with his head. The pain rushed through his skull and dizziness made him lose track of where and what. The spix macaw realized too late that the impact made him lose his balance and sent him falling to the ground. Before he could even try to flap his wings, another impact to his back made it hard for him to breath. His hazel eyes slowly closed up as he stared at the blue sky to see a figure coming down toward him.

"Je... wel...," he mumbled before passing out.

**Author's note: And this marks the end of chapter three, my friends. The plot has finally started as Jewel has been (once again) captured by humans and taken away from the rainforest. It's up to Blu and his friends to save her now. After he wakes up, of course. See you next chapter and, as always, may the gods watch over you all.**


	4. Getting help

**Author's note: Before starting this chapter, I'd like to say that I hope all of you, my friends, passed a wonderful Christmas with your friends and family. You must always cherish those moments. And may the gods watch over you all :)**

Blu was uncertain on how long he had been unconscious. A strong pain rushed through his skull and he felt like his brain got affected by the impact as well. The last thing he remembered before passing out was that he flew after the truck driven by the humans who captured Jewel and a blur of black and white. As his senses started coming back to him, he could hear a faint, distant voice talking to him.

"... Sir... Are... okay..."

Blu groaned and reached a wing to his head in order to ease the pain. "Oh, my head... Jewel... Jewel?" His hazel eyes suddenly shot open and he pushed himself on his two feet. "Jewel! I have to get to her! Ouch! Oww... my poor head."

"I'm sorry, sir. It's my fault." Turning around, Blu saw a male avian looking at him in concern.

A white-collared kite whose feathers are of a snow-white matched by ink black ones on his wings and tail. His golden beak ends in a mix of black and grey right between his red eyes. But his most noticeable attribute is the strange bird-sized photo camera tied around his neck and resting on his chest.

"I was flying around, thinking about my own stuff, when you came flying out of nowhere," the kite explained. "I tried to dodge you, but you came too fast at me. Why were you flying so fast? So, you collided into my chest and the strength of the impact knocked you down. Well, the impact and your fall too: you fell to the ground. Anyways, I brought you here against this tree and watched over you until you woke up. And now, it's done."

"I-I've been knocked out? Cheese and sprinkles!"

The kite blinked his eyes at this comment. "Cheese and sprinkles? You're hungry?"

"No. How long have I been knocked out?"

The kite looked up at the sky. "Judging by the sun's current position, I'd say around ten minutes. Or maybe more."

"Ten minutes?!" Blu exclaimed in shock. "No, no, no! The pickup that took Jewel must be far away from here by now! I'll never get them!" he panicked.

"A pickup? Hey, I've seen a pickup passing by just before colliding with you!" the kite said. "I took a picture of it. Here, look." Taking the camera in his wings, the kite pressed on a few buttons and held it up for Blu to look at the screen which showed the pickup that took Jewel. The picture was a bit blurred, probably because the kite took the picture in mid-flight, but Blu could easily recognize the vehicle.

"Wait a minute. What's that?" Upon giving the picture a close inspection, Blu noticed something written on the side of the pickup truck, red on green. "MercadoCar... 455, Vitor Manzini... Sao Paulo, Brazil?" Blu's hazel eyes widened once again. "Oh my gosh! That must by their address! This is where they must have taken Jewel!" Overcome with joy, Blu wrapped his wings around the kite for a big hug. "Thank you so much!"

"... Huh, why are you hugging me?" the confused raptor asked.

"For helping me!" Blu replied and broke the hug. "Thanks to you, I know where these guys took Jewel. That way, I can go to her rescue!"

The kite blinked his red eyes a few times before smiling and holding his wing out toward the Spix's macaw. "Hi. My name is Coco. Nice to meet you."

"I'm Tyler "Blu" Gunderson. Call me Blu," the Spix's macaw introduced himself in return and shook the raptor's wing.

"So, you're gonna go to Sao Paulo?"

"Yes. This pickup you took a picture of is owned by humans who captured my mate. I need to go save her before they do anything to her." Blu then opened his wings, ready to take off in the direction of his new destination. He didn't care about the pain in his skull or the fatigue in his wings; he would get to Sao Paulo even if he needed to fly beyond exhaustion.

However, a small detail popped in his mind, stopping him in his tracks. "... Aw, crap! How could I forget?!"

"Is something wrong, Blu?" Coco asked.

"Yes; I've never been to Sao Paulo before. I mean, I have seen some photos on the Internet or in books, but I don't know the road to get there." Blu started rubbing his chin with his feathers. "Maybe I could go check on the web and try to get a map..."

"I've got a better idea," Coco said with a smile. "I have a friend who has been to Sao Paulo not too long ago. He's a great tracer and I'm certain that he would have no problem leading us there. Come on!" The kite opened his wings and took off in the air.

"Oh my gosh! Thank you! Thank you so much! You're saving my life!" Blu beamed as he followed his new friend.

* * *

After flying for so long, it started feeling more natural to Blu. However, that did not mean he could brush off the fatigue in his wings yet. It still slowed him down a bit. Was it not for his determination to save his mate, he would have probably stopped right there to rest for at least a full hour. "Are we there yet, Coco? My wings are almost out of energy!"

"Don't worry, we're getting close now!" Coco replied while flying ahead. He led the two of them deep into the rainforest, somewhere Blu and Jewel never actually visited before. "Tye is a good friend of mine - his complete name is Tye Wang, but he prefers being called Tye. I'm sure you'll like him."

After traveling for a total of seventeen minutes (which felt more like hours to Blu), the two avians finally reached their destination. Coco landed on a tree branch with Blu doing the same, sighing in relief at finally being able to rest his wings. "Tye! Are you there? I'd like to present you someone!" the raptor asked with knocking near the hollow entrance with his talons. After receiving no answer in the next seconds, he gave it another try. "Tye! It's Coco!"

"I don't think he's here, Coco," Blu said. "Do you think he might have left or something?"

Coco rubbed his chin with his wing, raising his head to think about it. "Let me think, what does he usually do at this time of the day?" After only two seconds, he snapped his feathers. "I know! Follow me."

Blu watched as the kite jumped from the tree branch and down on the forest ground. He hesitated a few seconds before following him as jumping from such an elevated tree branch did not sound like a good idea. Landing with no problem, the Spix's macaw walked after Coco who stepped into a random direction. Just as Blu was about to ask him a question, he stopped in his tracks and smiled.

"Found him."

Blu looked over his new friend's shoulder only to see nothing but trees and bushes around them. Or so he thought before noticing what looked like a small pile of green feathers lying on the forest ground, trying to fit in with the bushes. Coco approached this pile and poked at it with a smile. "Hey, Tye!"

Next thing that Blu saw was a green wing curled into a fist coming right at Coco's face. The poor raptor found himself getting knocked to the ground and Blu jumped from the surprise effect. This caused the blue avian to take a few steps backward in case the attacker would be hostile again (though his lack of fighting skills wouldn't help in that case). But he got the chance to get a better view at the pile of green feathers.

A male eclectus parrot with feathers as green as the leaves and bushes of the forest (explaining how he managed to bend so well) with some orange and light blue on his wings and tail feathers. His beak is similar to Rafael's in term of colors with his eyes being a flamboyant orange and reflecting a somewhat fierce personality. He holds some sort of curved wooden boomerang with a golden crown drawing in the middle into his right wing.

"Ouch! Hey! What was that for?!" Coco asked as he sat up and rubbed his face where the eclectus parrot punched him.

"Coco?" The eclectus parrot's hostile gaze turned into a surprised one. He pulled his wooden boomerang away into a strap tied to his back that Blu failed to notice before and gave his wing to help the kite getting back up. "I'm sorry. But how many times did I told to never jump on me when I'm in hunter's mode?"

"... Fifty-two times exactly," Coco replied after taking Tye's wing and getting back on his feet. "Well, technically, it's the fifty-third time if we count this one."

"Why did you come here? And who's that blue guy?"

"Oh yeah, I forgot!" Coco said with slapping himself on the head. "Tye, this is Blu, a guy I just met and accidentally knocked out near the city. Blu, this is Tye Wang, the guy I told you about."

Normally, Blu would have offered a wingshake to be polite, but now was not exactly the right time. "Please, I need your help. My mate got captured by humans!"

"Really? But why did came to ask ME for help?" the eclectus parrot asked with rising a curious eyebrow.

"Because they have taken her to Sao Paulo and Coco told me you have been there not too long ago."

"Sao Paulo?!" Tye exclaimed, widened his orange eyes in surprise. "The biggest city in all of Brazil?! Do you have any idea how far it is from here?"

"... Huh, no. How far?"

"It's at least two-hundred miles away from here! It's gonna take forever to fly there!"

Blu's hazel eyes widened. Two-hundred miles? The fatigue in his wings suddenly felt worse than before for some reason. However, thinking back about his mate, the blue parrot shook his head and gave a determined look. "It doesn't matter how far Sao Paulo is from here! They took Jewel there and I will get her back!"

"But don't you have any other friends that could get you there? It's not the natives and travelers that are lacking here, dude," Tye pointed out, visibly not liking the idea of getting on a distant journey.

Blu looked down. He couldn't ask Rafael to go with him; this journey would probably be very long and he had his wife and kids to take care of. As for Nico and Pedro, they had their samba club to manage and rebuild after the fight they had with the marmosets. The Spix's macaw sighed and looked at Tye. "No, I don't have no one else. You're the only one."

"Come on, Tye. We must help this guy," Coco said in a pleading tone.

Tye blinked his eyes at the two birds a few times before sighing in defeat. "Alright, I'll help you. But this will be a long flight to get there, so we're gonna have to get prepared for it, starting with gathering food."

Blu almost instantly wrapped his wings around the parrot for a big hug. "Thank you! I'll always be grateful for this!"

"Weird; he did the exact same thing with me," Coco remarked with a chuckle. "Oh, by the way, what were you chasing after, Tye?"

After breaking from the hug, Tye pointed his wing at a tree's feet where a little red butterfly perched itself a leaf. "I was trying to catch my very first butterfly..."

**Author's note: Blu has me two new friends: Coco the white-collared kite and Tye Wang the eclectus parrot. They will travel together to Sao Paulo and try to save Jewel. Will they get there in time? You'll know in the following chapters. As always, constructive reviews are welcome and may the gods watch over you all.**


	5. To Sao Paulo!

"So, how are we supposed to get there?" Blu asked Tye.

After they convinced him to lead them to Sao Paulo, Blu and Coco left with Tye to prepare their supplies for the long journey ahead. They started by going to Linda's bookstore so that Blu could take his things and also leave a note to Linda, Tulio, and Fernando explaining the situation. The Spix's macaw took a fanny pack that his human companion bought in case they would decide to visit other destinations of Brazil as well as a bird-sized backpack he himself crafted in case he wanted to go camping in the wild with Jewel. The three birds made sure to fill both with fruits, bottles of water from Blu's home, a bird-sized medical kit, and a few more stuff in the macaw's fanny pack. He also used Linda's computer to print a picture of the place where Jewel got taken to and stuffed it in his fanny pack as well.

Right now, the three avians were gathered at the spot where Blu last saw Jewel before getting knocked out by Coco. They were making sure to be ready for the travel to Sao Paulo. "The city of Sau Paulo is exactly 222,05 miles away from here. If we leave now, we should get there in exactly five hours and eighteen minutes," Tye explained.

"See? I told you he's a great tracer," Coco told Blu with a smile.

"However, we already passed a lot of time to prepare our things," the eclectus parrot pointed out with looking at the sky which already turned orange-red in color. "I doubt we can make it there before tomorrow. This means we'll have to find a spot where we can spend the night before reaching the city."

"This won't be a problem," Blu said. "I slept a whole night in a small sanctuary in the jungle almost two weeks ago. I have no doubt we'll find somewhere to stay tonight on the road. Can we go now?"

"Well, yes, I'd say we can," Tye said with a nod. He turned west and opened his wings. "Let's go, guys... WAIT!" Just before taking off, he stopped in his tracks, causing Blu to bump in his back, hurting his beak.

"What's wrong?"

"... That's not the right direction. Sao Paulo is located east from Rio," Tye explained with a nervous chuckle. "My mistake. Let's go for real, this time!"

"Yeah, now you're talking!" Coco said, throwing a fist in the air with enthusiasm.

The trio of avians opened their wings, taking off the ground and to the sky. As they flapped their wings, Blu turned his head to see the city of Rio de Janeiro fading farther and farther behind him. The Spix's macaw started feeling the same way he felt when he left Minnesota to come to Rio. The feeling of leaving his home. Not very pleasant, but the safety of his mate mattered more. He would come back tomorrow if things went well.

"Hold on, Jewel. I'm coming..."

The three avians flew for many long minutes until Coco came close to Blu in order to discuss a bit while Tye kept the lead. "So, Tyler "Blu" Gunderson, huh? That doesn't sound very Brazilian. Are you from Brazil?"

"Nope. I'm from Moose Lake, Minnesota. That's in the United States," Blu replied the kite.

"Really? I heard a lot about the United States. Is it true that you guys like to make burgers and build important people's faces in stone?"

"Well, that's just a small portion of what our culture is known for, but yes."

"Cool. I'd like to go there one day."

"So where are you from, Coco?"

"I'm from Fortaleza; it's a city very far from here. I grew there with my parents before they died." Coco then rubbed his chin and started thinking. "Well, I think they died... I'm not sure."

"I'm really sorry, Coco."

The white-collared kite just smiled. "Hey, no worries. It's not that bad. Are your parents okay?"

Blu looked down. "I never actually met them. My human friend Linda found me inside a box when I was a chick and she has taken care of me ever since. We have no idea where I come from and I don't know where my parents are."

"Oh, sorry about that, Blu," Coco said with giving the Spix's macaw a quick pat on the shoulder with his wing before flapping it again.

"It's okay." Blu smiled. He started to really like this white-collared kite. His gaze lowered to the photo camera hanging from his neck. "So you like taking pictures?"

"Yup. It's my passion. The world is full of surprises and wonders. I try to take as many pictures as I can with my camera," Coco replied with sudden interest. Blu must have touched a subject he liked. "I have taken many pictures to this day. Sometimes, I have to change batteries because I don't have unlimited space. If you want, I'll show you all the pictures I've taken."

"I'd like to."

#

The three birds flew over the beautiful Brazilian landscape for two hours. The sky turned dark by then and they could hardly see ahead. "We flew enough for now," Tye said to his two friends. "We're gonna stop and find a spot to sleep for the night."

"No," Blu said. "I still have the strength to fly. We need to continue if we wanna get to Sao Paulo in time."

"Come on, Blu," Coco whined. "It's getting late and I'm sleepy. We can reach the city tomorrow; it's only two hours away now."

"Maybe, but we don't know the precise location of these smugglers' lair. And Sao Paulo is a huge city! It could take us a long time before finding them, and if something happens to Jewel by then..." Blu closed his eyes and shook the bad thoughts out of his head. "We can't take that risk. We have to continue."

Tye suddenly stopped flying in looked at Blu straight in the eyes. "Alright, listen now, pal. Unlike what you seem to think, Coco and I don't have unlimited energy; we need to rest. I understand that you're worried for your mate, but we won't be able to help her if we have no energy left to face these smugglers. In fact, we might end up getting captured as well. So the best thing to do is set down for the night to get some rest, understood?"

After a few seconds of looking at his two tired friends, Blu sighed in defeat. "Okay, fine. But we're leaving tomorrow as early as possible."

With this conversation being over, the three birds flew down to find a place to sleep. Lucky for them, there was a large forest next to a road where they could probably set their camp of find an empty nest if necessary. After flying across the trees for a few minutes, they managed to find some sort of cave. "Great! This is gonna be the perfect place for us to spend the night in," Tye said with optimism as they stepped to enter the cave.

"ROAR!"

"... Or not!" The cougar roar made them turn around and take off in the air immediately. After putting as much distance between themselves and this cave, the avians found an open area where they could set up their camp for the night. Blu's knowledge on how to build up a camp allowed them to finish pretty fast. This and also because Tye himself had some experience with camps.

"You don't mind sleeping in sleeping bags?" the Spix's macaw asked. He was used to human things thanks to his time with Linda, but didn't know if his friends would be okay with it.

"Not at all. They are so comfy...," Coco purred as he snuggled in the soft fabric of his bird-sized sleeping bag.

"You guys go to sleep," Tye said as he sat on a stone with his wooden boomerang in his wing. "I'm gonna take the first watch out. I will wake you up when I feel too tired to stay up, Coco." The white-collared kite gave a thumb feather's up before closing his eyes and drifting to sleep in his comfortable bag.

Blu did the same, lying on his back with his wings behind his head and tried his best to calm down a bit if he wanted to sleep. But he couldn't deny that the relief he felt in his wings after flying so much in one day was huge. His hazel eyes gazed up at the star-filled sky above him. A feeling of sadness and worry took over his heart.

"Don't worry, Jewel. I promise I'll find you tomorrow. I won't let anyone hurt you..."

#

Blu felt himself slowly waking up, the beams of the sun shining on his face, making him cover his eyes with his wing for a moment before sitting up. Pushing a loud yawn, the Spix's macaw stretched his wings and winced a bit as they still felt sore from the hard flying he made yesterday. He then gazed down at his sleeping bag. It felt so weird to wake up and not finding himself in his nest. And not having Jewel pulling him out of his sleep...

"Don't worry, Jewel. I'll get you back," he mumbled to himself.

Blu looked up to see Tye snoring loudly in his sleeping back while cuddling his boomerang. "No... Impossible... A fly cannot eat so many apples..." The Spix's macaw couldn't help but chuckle at the eclectus parrot's cute way of sleeping.

"GUYS! GUYS!" Coco shouted as he came running toward his friends.

"Huh?! What?!" Tye jumped out of his sleeping bag in a hurry, tripping over his feet and face-planting himself before kicking up and swinging his boomerang everywhere. "We're under attack?! Wild predators?! What's going on?!"

"You won't believe it!" Coco beamed, a bright smile on his face. "During my watch time, I walked out and found a beautiful river farther into the forest! I took a picture of it. Look." Blu and Tye looked at Coco's camera screen as he opened it. It revealed the picture of a luscious river shining under the rising sun. Both avians mentally agreed that it did look beautiful.

However, Tye then noticed something. "Huh, Coco. What's this in the corner of the picture?"

"Oh, that's our supply bag," Coco replied with a smile.

"Did you bring it back with you?"

"... Huh, no."

Tye's eye twitched as he gazed at the kite. "... YOU LEFT OUR BAG OF SUPPLIES ALONE IN THE FOREST?!"

Coco chuckled nervously in response. "I think so..."

"Coco! We need those supplies!" Blu exclaimed. "Come on, let's go get it before someone steals it!"

The three feathered friends flapped their wings as hard as they could with Coco leading the way. They made it to the spot he took a photo of in a few seconds and they found the bag of supplies... open and with supplies spilled everywhere. The wild life already took everything inside away.

"COCO! HOW CAN YOU BE SO UNRESPONSIBLE?!" Tye shouted at his white friend, wiggling his wings in every direction. "WE HAVE NO FOOD AND NO DRINK LEFT! BUT MOST OF ALL, WE HAVE NO MAP OF THE CITY!"

"Calm down," Coco said, waving his wing. "The city's just two hours away from here; we're not gonna starve to death."

"Not starve to death?!" Tye shouted again. "Dude, you seem to forget that once we get there, we're gonna need to search the whole city to find the smugglers which could take hours and I'm not even talking about the travel back to Rio! We're gonna be dead with empty stomachs by then!"

"... That's true. Oops," the white-collared kite said with a bashful smile.

"We need to find food and water before going to Sao Paulo," Blu said. "We should find some of it in this forest."

"No need," Tye said and smiled. "I know EXACTLY the right place not too far from here where we can get everything we need."

"What is it?"

"A Bird Market."


	6. The bird market

The group of birds managed to find some sort of market farther into the forest. This village was occupied by nothing but birds of all shapes and size walking around and approaching bird-sized shops selling all sorts of stuff from food and fruits to items. In other words, it looked like the fruit market where Nico and Pedro's samba club was located, but for birds.

"What is this?" Blu asked his two friends while looking at the market in amazement.

"It's a bird market," Tye explained. "If you're a bird and need to get food or other cool items, this is a dream place for you. As long as you have bird money, of course."

Blu blinked his hazel eyes in confusion. "Bird money?"

"Yup. Like money used by humans... but for birds."

"Why did I never heard about all of this before?"

"You're from America, right? Well, sorry for you, but bird markets are not exactly popular there. This combined with the fact that you practically never left your human home means that you only learn about it today." The eclectus parrot then patted his blue friend's shoulder with his wing. "But don't worry. Just follow me, and there won't be any problem." He then reached into his backpack and took out some strange bronze coins with a feather insignia carved into it. "I should have enough bird money to buy everything we need."

The three birds walked from one shop to another and managed to get enough of their lost stuff back. But not enough to Tye's liking. The eclectus parrot walked out of a shop and over to his two friends who were waiting for him.

"Okay, we got exactly five bird coins left," he told them.

"Four actually," Coco said.

"Why's that?"

"I couldn't say no to this little accessory." The white-collared kite showed his photo camera. Upon giving it a closer look, Blu and Tye noticed a new addition on it; a flash gadget lodged in the upper part. "I always dreamed to have one. Now, I can produce a flash with my camera when I take a picture or just for fun."

"... And this is why I don't trust you with my belongings, Coco," Tye said and facepalmed (or faceWINGED) himself. "Coco, I'll take care of the bird money." The kite sighed and handed over the four remaining coins to his parrot friend. "Thanks. Now, Blu, there's something I'd like to get for you."

"Really? What is it?" the Spix's macaw asked.

"Follow me."

Tye wrapped a wing around Blu's shoulders and started walking away with him. Coco chuckled a bit to himself and followed them from behind. "Birds from all of Brazil and beyond! Come! Come and find the biggest wonders you are looking for - and even those you are NOT looking for!" Coco stopped in his tracks and spotted a scarlet macaw standing near a shop soliciting the customers.

Curiosity getting the better of him, the white-collared kite decided to go see this macaw who smiled upon seeing him. "Huh, hello."

"Hello, my friend. I can see from your appearance that you are a big traveler," the scarlet macaw said in a flattering tone as he rubbed his chin and gazed at the young kite. "Would you be interested to see the curios in my shop?"

"That sounds fun... What are curios?" Coco asked with scratching the side of his head.

"Follow me and you'll see," the scarlet macaw responded, wrapping a wing around Coco's shoulders and leading him into his shop.

* * *

Meanwhile, Tye led Blu inside a shop containing bird-sized weapons. The Spix's macaw hazel eyes widened a bit as he had only seen such weapons in books and on the internet - but never to the size of a bird. There were sabers and swords he could actually hold in his talons displayed on the shop's walls. Nunchuks of every color were aligned on a hook and there were even more weapons everywhere inside - shields, arrows, and even guns!

"T-Tye. What are we doing here?" Blu asked, feeling uneasy in such a place.

"This is a weaponry, Blu. We have come here to buy you a weapon," the eclectus parrot replied.

"A-A weapon?!" Blu exclaimed as his hazel eyes widened in shock. Him? Holding a weapon? But how?! He never used a weapon in his entire like! Sure, he did get in a few brawls when he and Jewel got chained and chased by the smugglers, but he mostly avoided direct fighting and instead used his environment to his advantage. Using a tool to hurt people... was too different. "But I-I can't use a weapon!"

Tye raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about, Blu? Of course, you can. You're gonna have to. You remember that your mate got captured by smugglers, right?"

"Well, yes, but-"

"And you really think they will just nicely give her back when we find them?" The eclectus parrot rubbed his forehead with his wing. "Wake up, Blu! If we want to save your girl, we're gonna have to fight!"

These words echoed in Blu's mind. He did not know what to say against this. It's true that the smugglers wouldn't just give Jewel back, but that didn't mean he would need to fight, right? He could just sneak without being seen and free her before they realized what happened. Blu didn't like confrontation for he believed in peace and kindness. He would never hurt anyone unless it's 100% necessary.

The Spix's macaw was brought out of his thought as he felt a wing being placed on his shoulder and looked up to see Tye giving him a smile. "Look, I'm not gonna buy you a weapon to kill everybody in sight; it's just a little tool that you can use to defend yourself from eventualy enemies on our way, just like my boomerang."

Taking a moment to think, Blu then smiled back. "Alright, if you think this is gonna help me saving Jewel, I guess I can deal with this."

"Cool. Now, I know exactly what you need." Tye walked into the shop, went to talk with the owner, and soon came back with his wings in his back. "Alright, are you ready to see your new self-defense gadget, Blu?"

"Show it! I wanna see it!" Blu said, feeling a bit excited. Grinning, Tye pulled his wings forward and revealed what he was holding.

A Y-shaped rosewood wooden slingshot and a black bag filled with something that Blu couldn't see. "A... slingshot?" he asked with taking the little tool in his wing. It was pretty light. Using his other wing, he stretched the string as far as it could go - which meant VERY far.

"Yeah. Cool, right?" Tye asked with a smile. "It may seem like a basic kid's toy, but when used correctly, this little wonder can take down anybody. And since macaws like you are known for having a good vision, I thought it would be the perfect tool for you. Now, you'll be able to defend yourself against our enemies." He then opened the bag, revealing many black and red bills.

"What are these?" Blu asked with taking the bag and looking at the bills inside.

"The bills for your slingshot, of course. The black ones are made of metal and can hurt when shot at full speed. The red ones contain some pepper, which can blindfold your target for a moment and give you time to attack again," Tye explained. "You should put these in your fanny pack now."

"Good idea." It was true that Blu did have a pretty good aim. When he and Linda were younger, they used to play this game called "Duck Hunt" with a toy pistol on her NES. And he always beat her! Putting his new weapon and the bag of bills into his fanny pack, Blu followed his eclectus parrot friend out of the weapon shop. They should be ready to resume their travel to Sao Paulo now.

"Huh? Where did he go?" Blu noticed Tye looking all around with an agitated expression. "I can't believe it!"

"What's wrong, Tye?" Blu asked with rising an eyebrow.

He turned to look at the macaw. "Coco is gone! I thought he was waiting for us outside the shop. It's just a matter of time before he gets in trouble and-"

The eclectus parrot got cut off when his wings got wrapped in a sling thrown from somewhere in the market's street. He got pulled forward and landed face-first on the ground. Upon looking up, he saw a gang of pretty infriendly-looking birds glaring down at him.

"Huh... hi?"

"So you are that white-collared kite's fiends, huh?" one of them asked, his glare turning to Blu. "Time to have a small talk!"

Realizing they were in danger, Blu quickly opened his fanny pack and grabbed his new slingshot while backing off. However, he bumped into something and turned around to see a big imposing eagle glaring down at him. Before he could try to run away, the eagle grabbed the Spix's macaw with his big wing, pinning him to his side, and started walking away. "LET ME GO!" Blu shouted while struggling to break free of the eagle's grip. But this was a lost fight; the difference in strength and size was too big.

The birds started walking away, letting Tye getting back up, his pride hurt. "Oh, what? I'm not good enough to capture too?" Two of the birds came back to grab his wings and carry him away. "... Thank you."

**Author's note: So Blu got his official weapon for this story, a slingshot. However, the group of birds they met seems to be mad at them. What did Coco do this time?**

**And for those of you wondering how bird markets can exist, I'm gonna answer with another question: how can a samba club for birds exist? It just makes my version of the Rio world just that more exciting.**

**Now, there's something I'd like to ask from you readers. My previous chapter received only two reviews and they were not very constructive. I don't wanna rush you or sound impolite, but reviews like "this is a good chapter" will not help me progress. So do you think your reviews could be more constructive, please?**


	7. Fighting our way out

**Author's note: Before we start this chapter, I'd like to address a message to author monsterjamvadin. In response to my demand for more constructive reviews, you answered me very rudely and even called me a d***. Listen, I accept every review on my fanfics as long as they remain respectful. But if they don't, I'm not gonna stand for it and will be forced to block you. I'm willing to give this a pass, but if you're being disrespectful again, I won't.**

Blu groaned as his struggle against the giant bird left him with a pain in his neck. The birds who captured him and Tye dragged them by force in a little shop and into a dark room. The two parrots were forced back to back by tight ropes wrapped around their bodies alongside Coco, pinning their wings against their sides and allowing them to move only their legs. If they coordinated their moves correctly, they could possibly walk around, but their captors would not allow them to go very far. Especially considering they were surrounding the trio.

"What the heck have you done to get them mad at us, Coco?" Tye asked as he twisted his head to look at his kite friend. Not easy when he was right behind him.

"Huh... I might have accidentally eaten a very rare fruit from their collection before asking the price," Coco explained with a nervous chuckle. "Turns out their dragon fruit costed 70 bird coins while I didn't have any on me." He then dragged his gaze across the floor. "And I might have told them that you guys could pay them for me."

"S-Seventy bird coins?!" Tye exclaimed, widening his eyes to an almost comedic point. "What kind of fruit was that?!"

"A dragon fruit, I just told you. And it was delicious," Coco said with licking some remaining juice on his beak.

"Now listen up!" one of the birds, a scarlet macaw, exclaimed with walking close to the three prisoned birds. "You little feather bags are better pay us for that dragon fruit: we worked very hard to get it! If you don't, we're gonna peel the feathers off your bodies and hang you upside down until your empty heads get filled with blood!"

Blu gulped nervously. There was nowhere for him to run and no chance for him to reach his slingshot as his fanny pack had been taken by one of the birds. As much as he tried, the ropes were too solid for him to break. He started thinking back to the night he and Jewel got captured by the smugglers and taken to their lair. However, back then, his human skills allowed him to pick up the cage so that they could escape. This situation was different.

"Blu," Tye mumbled into his macaw friend's ear barely louder than a whisper. "Try to make them talk and get as much time as you can buy us. I'm working on a way to get us out of here."

Blu blinked his eyes at this. Buying time? How? These birds seemed everything but patient! "So?" the scarlet macaw asked, getting his face close to Blu's. "Are you going to pay us?"

"Huh...," Blu looked everywhere, thinking of a way to distract them. "Why would you want sevety bird coins... when you can have a giant treasure all for yourselves?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Well, you see, a few days ago, we found a treasure map outside the city of Sao Paulo and sold it to a shop at the end of this market," Blu said, trying to sound convincing. "If you go see him, I'm sure he can give you the map and lead you to this treasure that will make you rich for years to come."

The birds all exchanged gazes... before bursting out in a wave of laughter. "Are you taking us for morons, birdie?" the scarlet macaw asked after wiping a tear away with his wing. "A treasure map? We're not pirates!" He then grabbed Blu by the throat with his talons. "You wanna mock us? How about I rip your eyes out and see if you still laugh?"

"You're really gonna hurt the last Spix's macaw on earth? That's not very smart, dude," Coco suddenly spoke up, sounding flabbergasted.

Instantly, all the eyes in the room turned toward the white-collared kite with confused expressions. "Your friend is the last Spix's macaw on earth?" the scarlet macaw asked with a greedy look forming on his face.

"What? No, no," Blu quickly denied, not wanting to get even more trouble that he already had. "I'm just a Hyacinth macaw. It's just that I have a biological problem that prevented me from having yellow markings."

"Of course he is the last Spix's macaw," Coco continued with a smile. "And I bet he can bring you so much bird money that you'll be rich for years to come."

"Coco, I think you should shut your beak now," Blu mumbled. What was Coco doing? Did he decide to give up the quest to save Jewel and escape with Tye while leaving him alone with these scary birds?

"I'm just sayin'," Coco continued," it's bad business, if you ask me. Imagine how much you could get from selling the last Spix's macaw on earth to a good seller."

The scarlet macaw rubbed his chin and then grinned. "You know what, forget about this dragon fruit. We keep the Spix's macaw here. You and your friend can go."

Right at this moment, Tye finished cutting the ropes with his talons as everyone was too busy looking at Blu and thinking about all the money he would bring them. By all the luck in the world, the bird who took his boomerang away was standing right next to him, which allowed him to snatch it back with a swift move of his wing before slamming his dear weapon on top of his skull, knocking him out.

"CLOSE YOUR EYES, GUYS!" Coco grabbed his photo camera (the birds did not take it away from him) and used its flash to blindfold the birds all around his friends and himself. This bought Blu enough time to pull the ropes off him and jump to grab his fanny pack back. Wasting no time, he opened his pack to take out his new slingshot as well as a black metal bill from his bag.

"I hope it's as easy to do as in movies," the Spix's macaw mumbled to himself as he charged his slingshot, aiming it at one of the birds who recovered from the flash and decided to go for Blu. Pulling the string as far as it could go, Blu released it so that the bill could fly toward its target. It collided right between the bird's eyes, the impact knocking him out at once. "Wow! This thing is stronger than it looks," the macaw said with looking at his slingshot.

When one of the birds swung his talons at him, Tye performed an impressive backbend without touching the ground and knocked him down with a leg sweep. The next bird got immediately knocked to the ground by a good boomerang swing across the face. Despite having a good start, the eclectus parrot quickly realized how outnumbered he was and gulped. "Huh, Blu? Little help here?"

He didn't have to ask twice as his blue bird friend charged his slingshot again, this time with a red bill, shooting it at one of the birds who coughed because of the pepper smoke. Soon, Blu found himself shooting down one bird after the other, alternating between his two types of bills. Yup, this was definitely like playing "Duck Hunt" with Linda. Tye, meanwhile, resumed knocking the birds out with his boomerang while Coco blindfolded them with his camera whenever he had the chance.

"DO NOT LET THEM ESCAPE! WE MUST GET THIS SPIX'S MACAW TO GET OUR FORTUNE-" the scarlet macaw screamed before getting knocked out by Tye's boomerang that then flew back into its owner's waiting wing.

"Let's get out of here before they recover!" the eclectus parrot screamed and ran for the exit. Coco and Blu followed, giving one last look at the defeated birds before making it through the exit of their shop and out in the market again. However, they did not stop running and opened their wings to take off, wanting to put as much distance between these thugs and themselves as possible.

#

"Okay, I think we're far enough now."

The three birds flew for ten minutes straight to get far from the market so that they would be sure these thug birds wouldn't find them. Being out of harm's way, they landed on the forest floor and panted to catch their breath. Relief filled them and they relaxed their shoulders that felt a bire sore from flying so hard and so fast for so long.

But then, Tye's eyes narrowed as he turned toward Coco and grabbed him by the feathers of his chest with his wing. "Coco, you little brat! Are you trying to get us killed or what?!"

"I-I'm sorry, Tye. I didn't mean to cause you guys trouble," the kite sincerely apologized.

"Oh, you're sorry? Awesome!" the eclectus parrot sarcastically said. "It's funny that you don't want to cause us trouble 'cause that's all you've been doing since we left Rio! First, you lose our stuff, and now, you almost get us killed by a bunch of thug birds! Don't just go wandering around without telling us! Never do that again, you hear me?!"

"Tye!" Blu yelled with a frown.

"What?!" he shouted back, looking at the Spix's macaw. This last one pointed a wing toward Coco. Not understanding, Tye looked back at the kite... and widened his eyes.

Coco's red eyes started bathing in tears, making them glimmer in the sunlight. His feathers flattened against his body and his wings started trembling. He sniffed a bit. Soon, Tye realized what he just did and felt guilt falling on him like a pile of bricks. "Oh, Coco, I'm sorry. I-" The kite broke free of his friend's hold and ran away. "Coco! Wait!"

But their raptor friend was already out of reach. Blu put his wing on Tye's shoulder. "Was that really necessary, Tye?" he asked, mixing anger with disappointment.

"I-I don't know what came over me, Blu. It's just... I'm angry for all the troubles that happened to us today," Tye admitted with rubbing the back of his head.

"You shouldn't have taken your anger out on him." Blu then sighed and removed his wing. "I'll go talk to him. Just wait us here, okay?" And with that, Blu opened his wings to fly in the direction his friend ran away.

#

After only two minutes of flying, Blu managed to find his raptor friend. He was sitting by himself on a tree branch, holding his photo camera in his wings and looking at it under every angle. His eyes were still a bit wet and his face reflected nothing but sadness. Blu carefully landed on the tree branch and took a few steps in the kite's direction.

"Hey Coco. Are you alright?" Coco just nodded his head a bit without looking at Blu. "Listen, Tye didn't mean what he said, back there. He's just been under a lot of stress and-"

"He's right, you know," Coco lowly said. "There IS a problem with my head."

Blu rose a curious eyebrow at this. "What are you talking about? You're not an idiot."

"That's not what I meant. My brain has a... complex condition. You see, it's because I'm on the specter."

"The specter? Like a ghost?"

"No; the specter of autism," Coco explained. "You see, I don't understand they world around me the same way you and Tye do because my brain doesn't work like that of a normal bird. Sometimes, birds make jokes and it takes me a while before catching them." He then looked down at his camera. "I think that also explains how I managed to figure out the working mechanism of my photo camera."

Blu blinked his eyes a bit at this revelation. He did hear about this mental phenomenon called specter of autism before. He read some books treating about this subject, but it was so complex that he didn't understand it that much. In fact, he didn't even know a bird could be touched by this phenomenon. So this meant Coco was a very special bird? Maybe even one of a kind?

Blu sighed, smiling and wrapping his wings around the raptor for a hug. "It's okay, Coco. You don't need to explain yourself. So what if your brain is different from that of a normal bird? You've seen a lot of birds like me who can understand human stuff or like Tye, who can use a boomerang?"

Coco rubbed his chin... and then chuckled. "I guess not."

Blu patted his friend on the shoulder. "You're perfect the way you are, Coco. I'll just keep a closer eye on you because we're a team. Now let's go back to Tye and resume our travel to Sao Paulo, shall we?"

**Author's note: We got to see the first fight of this story. I know these bad birds weren't too much of a challenge, but hey, it was Blu and his friends' first fight together; we must all start easy, right?**

**And yes, Coco is an autistic bird. Before you tell me it's impossible, remember that this story takes place in a world with birds having human feelings and dancing. I just hope I won't receive negative heat for this as autism has always been a sensitive subject.**

**But except that, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. May the gods watch over you all, as always.**


	8. The garage

After Blu managed to get Coco back, Tye immediately apologized to his friend for what he said earlier. Coco assured him he wasn't mad and that he was ready to continue the travel. With all of them agreeing, the trio opened their wings and continued flying. After only three more hours, they reached their destination.

Sao Paulo. The feathered friends immediately understood why so many humans traveled to see this city. Its allure was matched by the backdrop of clear blue skies which gave it a unique allure. These skies brought a warm climate and the sun helped in that regard as well. The huge buildings along with the city's general architecture were very different from that of Rio de Janeiro. The streets were filled with traffic and market stores were everywhere.

The trio landed on top of a building from where they could get a good view of the whole city. "Wow! This place is huge!" Coco exclaimed with a look of admiration on his face.

"Jewel is out there somewhere," Blu mumbled, unable to appreciate the beauty of this city because of his worry for his mate. He opened his fanny pack and took out the picture of the place where the smugglers took Jewel to. "MercadorCar, 455, Vitor Manzini. Tye, you know where this is?"

"... Nope," the eclectus parrot replied.

"What?! But you said that you came here not too long ago! And Coco told me that you know this city very well!"

"I just know a little more than a mere tourist. What do you think, Blu? That I know everything about this city?" Tye dryly replied with his eyes half-closed.

Blu just rubbed his hazel eyes with two feathers and sighed annoyingly. "Look, just look for the location on this paper, okay? We're each gonna go our own way and search the city. Let's meet here again in one hour."

"Good idea," Coco said. "Good luck, guys."

The three friends opened their wings and each flew in their own direction, starting their search for Jewel...

#

After an hour, Blu landed back on the rooftop. Nothing. He searched around Sao Paulo for a whole hour... and he found nothing! NOTHING! Falling on his knees, the Spix's macaw started punching the floor with his wings curled into fists. "Cheese and sprinkles! Where is she? WHERE?!"

"Is something wrong, Blu?" The macaw didn't even turn his head to look at Coco as he landed behind him on the rooftop. "You didn't find the smugglers' base?"

"No, I didn't!" Blu replied in anger. "For the love of cheese! Why can't things be easy for once?"

Coco approached his blue friend, putting his wing on his back and gently patting it. "Hey, hey, come on, Blu. It's alright, everything will be fine."

"No, they won't. I... I failed Jewel," Blu said in a defeated tone. "I promised her that I wouldn't let anything happen to her after I saved her from Nigel. I should've been there for her..."

Coco tilted his head to the side. "That's a strange promise to make. I might not be an expert in love, but if you don't let anything happen to your mate, her life will be boring, don't you think?"

Blu turned his head to look at his white-collared kite friend with his slightly wet hazel eyes. Just as he opened his beak to answer, Tye came out of nowhere and landed in a hurry. "Guys! Guys! I found it! I found the place on your picture!"

This announcement caused Blu to immediately get back up on his feet and look at him with hope. "Really? You found them?!"

Tye nodded. "But we must get there fast! Follow me!"

#

The trio of birds reached their destination after only fifteen minutes of flying. They landed on a rooftop and Tye pointed down below. "Look, they're here!" Following his direction, Blu saw what looked like a garage standing in a spot of the city that was surrounded by other shops with enough place for cars to come and get repaired. But it still looked pretty far from the main street.

Coco took the paper out of Blu's fanny pack and looked at it. "It's the exact same garage as on this image." He then noticed a pickup truck parked right next to the garage. Opening his photo camera, he checked his most recent picture. "And this car, it's the exact same one I took a picture of."

"The same one that they used to take Jewel away from me," Blu said with a glare. "There's no doubt; this is where these smugglers took her! She's in here."

Just then, a door in the garage's side opened and a man walked out, carrying some sort of box covered by a sheet. Exchanging glances and mentally agreeing on the next course of actions to take, Blu, Tye, and Coco opened their wings and flew down toward the garage.

They landed on the roof and followed the strange human they saw. They spotted him going behind the garage's building where a huge truck was stationed. To their horror, at least three other humans were busy filling the back of this truck with cages containing birds of all colors and sizes. This sight reminded Blu of the night he and Jewel got caught by Marcel and his gang. When they were getting pulled into this plane that almost took them away from Rio.

This could happen again...

"These birds," Tye mumbled. "They are going to take them away from here and sell them on the black market! There's no doubt about it!"

"We have to save them!" Coco said. "I saw what bad humans can do to poor birds like them. It wasn't pretty..."

"Okay, here's what we're gonna do," Blu mumbled to his friends. "We're gonna wait for them to get all the birds in this truck. Then, when they have their back turned, we get inside to save everyone. Got it?" Coco and Tye nodded in agreement.

The three birds waited for eight minutes before three of the four humans got back in the garage while the fourth one went to sit in the truck's driver seat. "Now!" Blu mumbled. The three friends flew inside the back of the truck, which was left open. As soon as they came into view, the caged birds started begging them to open their cages and set them free.

"What should we do now?" Coco asked.

"Start opening the cages to free them," Blu instructed. "I'm gonna go look for Jewel." Knowing that trying to change their friend's mind would be useless, Coco and Tye nodded. As the Spix's macaw walked further into the truck, Tye worked on opening the cages by slamming his boomerang on the locks.

"Jewel!" Blu started checking all the cages inside the truck one by one. The place was a bit dark due to the lack of light being able to get in, but he still could see clearly enough.

"Help me!" "You have to open this cage!" "Please, I have a family!" The birds all begged for Blu, reaching their wings through the bars with pleading and panicked looks.

"Calm down. Calm down!" Blu seriously said. "We will get you all out of here in a moment! Have you seen my mate? She is just like me... but as a girl."

"BLU!"

Upon hearing the familiar voice calling his name, Blu immediately froze. Then, he slowly turned around to set his eyes on who he had been searching all along. Her light blue feathers were easily distinguishable even in the darkness of her cage. They were a bit messy and the bags under her eyes indicated she was tired. But... she was alive... and that's all Blu needed to know.

"JEWEL!" In a split-second, the Spix's macaw found himself hugging his beloved mate through the iron bars of the cage. But even their coldness could not bother the warmness of feeling his other half against him. "By all the gods, Jewel, I'm so happy to see you!"

"It's the same for me," the female macaw replied, hugging her husband even harder than he was.

Breaking from the hug after a few seconds, Blu started looking all over his mate for any potential injury. "You're okay? They didn't hurt you? I swear if they damaged your wing again, I don't answer of my actions!"

"I'm fine Blu, I assure you." Jewel couldn't hold back a giggle at her husband's overprotectivness. "They did not hurt me; just kept me locked in this filthy cage. But... I was really scared." A smile formed on her black beak. "I knew you would come to save me."

"Of course. You're my other half, Jewel. I couldn't leave you. We're chained to each other birds, remember?" Blu stroked his mate's head feathers before kissing her on the beak. Oh, how he missed that gentle contact.

"So, how are we gonna get out of here?"

"Don't worry; I have two friends who are working on freeing the other birds at the entrance of this truck. I'm gonna pick this cage open and then, we'll help the others before getting out of here." Blu grabbed the lock of his mate's cage, ready to open it with his talons.

"BLU! HELP!" Coco's voice shouted from outside.

As much as he wanted to free his mate right now, Blu could not ignore his friend's call for help. "Just wait, Jewel; I'll be back in a minute." Turning around, the Spix's macaw rushed toward the pickup's exit. What went wrong with his friends?

Upon exiting the truck, Blu's hazel eyes widened. Coco and Tye were flying around in the air, trying to avoid getting caught by three of the four humans who charged the birds in the truck. "Here's another one!" Before Blu could react, he felt a violent kick in his side which knocked him many feet away. After coming to a stop, he groaned and held his poor side in pain as he looked up at the one who hit him.

A tall, dark-skinned man wearing wide brim pork hat with a feather and many necklaces. "Trying to take my source of profit away, are we?" he asked with a sinister grin. "Sorry, not gonna happen, little pal." He then turned toward his three companions. "You guys take these feather bags and lock them into our base. I'm gonna take the merchandise to our client before he changes his mind. We'll think about what to do with these three after we come back."

Obeying, the third companion jumped toward Blu and attempted to catch him. Luckily, the macaw had good reflexes. Rolling out of the way, he flapped his wings to take in the air, the pain in his side not being too bad. The human swung his hands at him to try and catch him, but Blu managed to avoid them and clawed his talons across his face, causing him to stumble back and shout in pain.

Looking at the apparent leader of the smugglers, Blu saw that he already finished closing the pickup's back door and went to sit in the driver's seat. The vehicle turned on and started driving away from the garage. No... They were taking Jewel away again...

In a state of panic, Blu failed to notice one of the three humans approaching him. It was only thanks to Tye's boomerang which came flying into the side of his head to knock him down before going back into his owner's talons that he didn't get hurt. "Blu!" the eclectus parrot shouted. "We're taking care of them: go stop this truck!"

Barely taking sight of Coco using his camera's flash to blindside one of the smugglers, Blu nodded and immediately took off after the truck. Fueled by his determination to save his mate, Blu caught up with the vehicle in no time. Fate decided to be on his side for once as his target was about to drive at a turn. This would give him a clear angle on the driver's window. He could shoot a bill through it with his slingshot and take the smuggler leader down.

"I'll only have one shot at this," Blu mumbled as he took his slingshot out. "Years of playing Duck Hunt, it's not time to fail me now." Taking his weapon in his talons, the Spix's macaw charged a metal bill into the string which he then pulled back as far as he could. Taking all the elements into consideration and waiting for the right moment, he waited for the right time and...

...shot.

Blu watched nervously as the bill flew through the air, begging every god he knew of for success. And his prayers were answered. He saw the driver's window break with cracks and the driver holding his face in pain as he got hit. The smuggler lost control of his vehicle as the pain prevented him from focusing and the broken window from seeing correctly.

However, it did not stop or hit a tree as Blu had hoped. Instead, it started rolling off toward a cliff which Blu had failed to notice before. His hazel eyes widened at what was about to happen. "NO!" He flapped his wings really hard to try and catch up with the truck before it would fall and kill everyone inside.

But he was too late. The truck rolled through the cliff's security barricade and fell down. It went crashing on the shore many meters down below... and exploded. The flames took away everyone inside... and Blu could only feel his body getting numb and his heart sinking into the pit of his stomach as he understood what this meant.

"JEWEL!"

**Author's note: The end of a tragic chapter. You thought Blu and company would get a happy ending? Well, nope. And you thought I wouldn't put any death into this? Well, I just did. This can't be rainbows and joy all the time.**

**The next chapter will be the final one for this story. I hope you'll enjoy it and may the gods watch over you all.**


	9. The road back home

**Author's note: Here we are, the final chapter of this story. At barely 20,000 words, it was pretty short. However, it managed to get 7 favorites, 7 follows, and at least 28 reviews. I'm pretty satisfied with the result. Except that, I hope you will enjoy this final chapter.**

Blu did not move a single inch away from his spot after an unknown amount of time - not that he cared about it. The world stopped existing around him. He could no longer feel his body, his head, his wings, his talons. His hazel eyes were locked on the black smoke rising from the flames toward the sky. His whole being felt... empty. As if it had been smashed to pieces and wiped away.

Soon, the emptiness in Blu's heart was replaced by the hardest pain he ever felt and the weakness of his body caused him to drop to his knees. He did not answer Coco and Tye's questions when they arrived, but he didn't need to. Upon going to inspect the flames and seeing the destroyed truck, they got all the answers they needed. By the time they came back, Blu's eyes were already filled with tears that fell down on his cheeks as he realized the horrible truth.

Jewel was gone forever.

"... I'm... really sorry, Blu...," Tye said, his head hanging low and his voice full of pain. Coco looked very sad too.

But... sympathy did not heal Blu's wound or made it feel better for that matter. His significant other died. And so did a part of him. He would never have the chance to fly with her again. They would never go on vacation in the Amazon. And they would never have kids together as they were supposed to in order to save their species... Everything was lost...

After an eternity of silence, Blu rose to his two feet and turned in the opposite direction from his friends and his mate's tomb. "... Coco... Tye...," he mumbled barely louder than a whisper. "I have to thank you... if you hadn't been with me, I would have never made it so far... I would have never reached Jewel in time..." Then, without saying anything else, he started walking away.

"Blu? Where are you going?" Coco asked.

"Jewel is gone... I'm going back home... to Rio..."

"W-Wait, Blu. Stay with me, can you, please?" the white-collared asked. "No one ever stayed with me as long as you and Tye before. When I'm with you, I... I... What I'm trying to say is that I enjoy you guys' company. If you go... it won't be the same."

Even without turning around, Blu could feel his friend's begging red eyes on his back. It reached his heart... but right now, Blu's heart was so empty that he could not find the strength to answer his demand. So, without talking to them, he opened his wings and took off to the sky. He did not care if Rio was in this direction or not; he just wanted to get away from here...

"Blu! Wait!" Coco called and was about to fly after his blue friend. However, Tye stopped him with his wing.

"Leave him some time, Coco. He just lost his mate; that's a very painful experience." Coco lowered his head with a sad expression. Tye patted his back. "Let's go take the corpses of the birds in this truck and bury them so that they can rest in peace."

Having nothing else to do, Coco nodded and followed his eclectus parrot friend toward the wreck of the truck. The two avians frowned at the sight of these burned feathered corpses with some of them being twisted in cringe-worthy ways. The leader of the smugglers was laying on top of a rock with its back snapped in half. This almost made them vomit; even if he was a smuggler who captured birds for money, he didn't deserve to end like this.

Tye sent Coco to take the corpses in one corner while he took care of those in another. The sight of blood, burnt feathers, and the smell of death made his stomach flip around. He finished taking five corpses when a faint sound managed to reach his ear.

"...Help... me..."

Tilting his head, the eclectus parrot followed the source of that voice. It was faint, but easy to ear for a parrot like him. After only a few seconds, he managed to find the source in question. An avian figure lying on a rock. This bird wasn't very different from the other as its blue feathers were burnt as well and covered in blood.

... Wait a minute. Blue feathers? Could it be that...?!

His instincts getting the better of him, Tye quickly rushed at the side of this corpse and touched her neck with his primary feathers. He could feel a faint pulse - a weak one, but she was alive.

"COCO! COME AND HELP ME! QUICK!"

* * *

Jewel felt a huge relief after spending so much time prisoner of those cursed smugglers. Despite being unconscious, she could hear her mind echoing familiar voices. "We're chained to each other birds, remember?" "I don't know. It sounds lonely..." "I can't wait to fly with you for the first time, Jewel..." These seemed to come closer and closer to her.

"... Jewel... answer me... Are you okay... Jewel... JEWEL!"

The Spix's macaw opened her turquoise eyes. She wasn't sure for how long she had been unconscious - after the truck's explosion, probably a very long time. She did not expect to wake up at all. The first thing she took notice of was the violent pain across her whole body. The sunlight forced her to blink her eyes a few times before being able to see properly. And once they did, she could see what she hoped to see the most.

The face of her beloved mate who was smiling and looking down at her with his wonderful hazel eyes. Her head was resting in his lap and things around them seemed to move for some reason. "B-Blu...?"

"Yes, it's me, Jewel," the male avian softly said and stroke his mate's head feathers. "Are you feeling well?"

"M-My whole body is hurting... but I'm fine. What happened?"

"Remember when the smuggler took you away with his truck?" Blu asked. "Well, I managed to stop him with my slingshot, but he ended up crashing at the feet of a cliff. That's when the truck exploded." Blu's expression turned into a sad one. "All the birds inside got killed. And the smugglers' leader too. Tye and Coco buried their bodies while you were unconscious." His smile came back. "But you're okay and that's all that matters to me. We're going back home now."

Lifting her head, Jewel could see that they were on top of a bus that was driving along a road with other cars ahead and behind them. She saw a white-collared kite and an eclectus parrot with them on the rooftop. She also took the chance to check her body to see the damage and saw her light blue feathers burnt and with some red on it. Most of it was covered by green bandages that seemed to ease the pain. "What are those?"

"They are bandages covered with medicinal herbs. My friend Tye bought some at a bird's market to heal your wounds while you were asleep and before we got on this bus." Blu then pointed a wing at his two friends. "Jewel, I'd like you to meet my two new friends, Tye Wang and Coco."

"Hi, Jewel!" Coco beamed while Tye just waved his wing with a smile.

"H-Hi... Nice to meet you," Jewel greeted back with what little energy she had.

"I would have never made it to you without their help, Jewel," Blu said with kissing his mate on the cheek.

"I'm just glad this is all over. I'm glad we're together again, Blu." Jewel kissed her mate on the beak and he returned it with joy.

The moment of joy was interrupted by a flash that caught the two macaws' attention. They turned to see their white-collared kite friend holding his photo camera up with a bright smile. "That's a photo I'm gonna keep very preciously!"

"GIVE ME THAT PHOTO CAMERA RIGHT NOW, COCO!"

**Author's note: And thus end this story. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed it. I wanna apologize if I scared you by making you think that Jewel died; it was only for dramatic effect.**

**I know this story was pretty short in comparison to my other ones. Honestly, it's because I was not really in the mood to make a 100,000 words long story. But don't worry; I actually have many sequel ideas in mind. I'm afraid it will not be for a while as I have other projects to take care of.**

**I wanna thank all those of you who read, favorited and reviewed this story. Especially Jazzstep, AquillaPrime, RioloverBardenBellaforlife, Kraft58, and OrangeMacawWorld, all of whom gave me constructive reviews and advice to make this story better. See you all soon and may the gods watch over you all.**

**BTW, the sequel will be called "The Snake Queen".**


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